A Labyrinthine Life

Category: Shops

I’m taking a perverse pride in the fact that I have burned out the motor on my old food processor. I’ve hated the thing from Day One, but it was too durable to die quickly, even under my the duress of my punishing projects (particularly my raw nut butters). In the end, I trounced it…

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Thundersley did itself proud this afternoon. Friends and neighbours gathered to celebrate the season and wish each other well as shopkeepers welcomed us with open doors and festive food and drink. Jenny the Donkey came to see the children. Father Christmas was there with reindeer and treats for good little boys and girls. Our local hairdressers created…

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After yesterday’s sunny ramble along the coastal footpath, today we braved the crowds of shoppers in Basildon as we finished off the last bit of Christmas shopping. Jeff’s reward? A sausage from the German Sausage Windmill, of course!

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Hadleigh’s greengrocer and butcher shop always has a nice array of seasonal treats. I walked up from Thundersley to meet a friend for coffee this morning and took a bit of time on the way home to see what was on offer. Our weather is extremely mild at the moment, but the skies are grey and dismal so this bright…

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The Noise Arts Festival is taking place all week here in Thundersley, and today Bodkins hosted a free Knit & Natter taster session for anyone wanting to pick up needles and wool and have a go. Seven of us crowded into the front of the shop to knit and get acquainted — and as always,…

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Breast cancer affects us all. This week, Thundersley is decked out in pink to increase awareness of the disease and hopefully encourage donations to the Lady McAdden Breast Screening Trust. I’m feeling very proud of my community today! (If you are reading this in an email, please click over to my actual webpage to see a…

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We don’t know how many more perfectly autumnal days we’re going to have this year, so we took advantage of the weather and our willing house guest to make the trek to Hatfield House and the adjacent palace and gardens. We especially wanted to photograph the gardens and the maze now that the foliage has reached…

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August is flying past. My creative spark has been reignited, and my energy has been pulled away from my computer and towards my wool, beads, art supplies, and interesting projects. Today, though, I went into London with a friend and managed to combine a whole lot of my current interests with my love of walking and…

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Yes, I realise that today’s photo is rather uninspired and you may well wonder what it has to do with walking, but that’s because I was having too good a time to bother with photos – this is one I took to consider for a future purchase. My friend’s FitBit swears that we walked well over…

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Wandering through a back street in Rayleigh on my way to pick up my new glasses this morning, I spotted an old remnant of days gone by. This trade sign is widely recognized as a barber pole, and dates back to the Middle Ages. According to Wikipedia, its history is a rather gory one: The origin of the…